The next day, the sun rose bright and Archer wandered into Kiel’s room. This time he didn’t have food or games since it was so early, he was just checking up, due to the events from the night before.

Archer walked over to Kiel and could sense the mood change. Kiel looked peaceful as he slept and not with fatigue and stress like he usually did. Their talk really affected Kiel and maybe something would really change.

Kiel sensed the air move as he slept and slowly woke up and could feel Archer standing there. Kiel sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes before speaking up in a raspy sleepy tone.

“Archer? Why are you here its not time for breakfast yet?”

“I just thought I’d check on you since last night and all,” Archer sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh yeah last night. I mean it really, I want to stop caring so much about my parents loving me, I want to change,” He smiles.

“I’m glad, its gonna help you a lot in the long run.”

Kiel fidgeted with the seam of the blanket with a content smile on his face. He shifted slightly and let out a long sigh he didn’t know he was holding. Kiel turned to Archer’s direction with a slightly childish grin.

“Sooo…since it’s so early do you think we could go out to the garden or maybe take a walk again?”

Archer chuckles. Kiel seemed rather enthusiastic and energetic than yesterday. Archer ponders for a bit on purpose to give off the suspense, leaving Kiel restless while he waits for the answer. Finally Archer chuckles after seeing Kiel so worked up and says.

“Well….If you reaaally want to, I guess we could make it happen. But we can’t stay out too long because we need to be back for breakfast.”

“Yes, thank you!” Kiel climbs off the bed and goes over to his dresser.

He reaches in and pulls out a pair of black shorts and a blue hoodie. Due to Kiel being blind, everything in his closet matched no matter what combination. So if he picked something random he wouldn’t end up looking like a toddler who had picked its own clothes out. Kiel slipped on the shorts and hoodie before waking back over to his bed waiting for Archer to hand him some form of shoes.

“Alright, here are your shoes,” Archer places them on his lap.

Kiel feels around for the shoes and eventually puts them on and carefully ties them.

Kiel finishes getting ready and heads down the stairs along with Archer. They make it to the front door and Archer opens it but is immediately met with a down pour of rain.

It dawned on him that it was in fact supposed to rain today and he just forgot to double check. Kiel hears the faint sound of dripping water and looks confused.

“Is that rain?”

“Uh…maybe I kinda forgot to double check the weather, sorry,” Archer sighs now feeling bad about getting Kiel’s hopes up.

“How about we go inside and wait for breakfast,” He says sheepishly and shrugs. Kiel groans a bit annoyed.

“We kinda have to now. There is no way I’m walking in the rain.”

They head inside both very disappointed.

By the time they take their shoes off and get back settled in it was already time for breakfast. The older lady from before walks in with her usual soft smile. A smile that causes her eye to squint and crinkle and cheeks raise.

“Good morning you two, did you sleep alright?”

“Yes just fine,” Archer smiles and walks over to her.

She hands him the usual food tray and Archer inspects the food.

“Well Kiel looks like you are having has browns and eggs.”

“Oh okay, at least it’s better than the down pour. That someone was supposed to tell me about before getting my hopes up of going outside,” Kiel glares over in Archer’s direction.

“Like I said I forgot to double check and I said I’m sorry,” Archer puts his hands in the air to surrender.

“You are not forgiven,” Kiel crosses his arms over his chest shaking his head.

Archer scoffs not wanting to argue with Kiel knowing he would win the argument. Kiel giggles softly but flinches when he hears the clinking of glass hit the table in front of him. Archer had placed the plate of food in front of Kiel and it may or may not have scared him. Kiel then feels a fork being placed in his hand and grips it with a bit of force.

“Wow how kind of you,” He snickers and takes a bite of food.

Kiel savored the hot potato flavor of the has browns and the runny yolk of the egg. Archer rolled his eyes at Kiel’s lingering attitude from the incident from before hand. Kiel eats in content silence, not paying any attention to the people around him.

Over in the living room, sits Archer and the private chef. They were were a small conversation.

“Hey, how is Kiel doing. I know it’s been hard on him with his parents leaving and all?” She asks with her usual kind and soft tone.

“Yesterday was rough but we talked things over and I really think he is going to let go a bit more. I told him that he shouldn’t care so much and we agreed that much.”

The lady sighs. “I hope he finds himself in the mess of it all. He really is a good kid and deserves more than his parents give. "

“I really hope so,” Archer shakes his head with a sigh and rubs his temples.

They continue talking and focus even more on Kiel and his parents.

Kiel eventually finished eating and left his plates and other remnants of breakfast on the counter before going over to the older lady and Archer. He sat down on the couch next to Archer and leaned back.

“Hey, do you know what time its supposed to stop raining?”

“I think its an all day thing dear,” The lady replies even though Kiel was asking Archer.

“Oh…” Kiel sighs.

He gets back off the couch and reaches into a cabinet above the TV stand and pulls out some board games.

“Well we can play games,” He smiles holding up a deck of cards and Monopoly in front of his face.

“I guess we can since there is nothing else to do, but lets clean up a bit and maybe do the dishes so we don’t have to it later,” Archer states and stands up.

Kiel, the older lady, and Archer go over to different rooms and clean. Kiel cleans up the living room the best he can and fluffs the pillows. The cook does a small amount of dishes and puts them away. And Archer wipes down the counters and sweeps the floors.

They all focus on their work and even hum soft tunes or talk to themselves or each other. Kiel finishes first followed by the older lady and Archer, who finished sometime after them.

They met up back in the living room, and the house was nice and clean. Kiel grabs the deck of cards and Monopoly again and spreads it out on the table, though it was a bit messy due to him not knowing how and where everything was.

Kiel Claps his hands and looks up with a grin.

“So we can play Monopoly and I can beat you all or play cards and still beat you.”“We will see about that, I don’t think you will be able to beat me,” Archer puffs his chest and grins wide.

“Huh what about this old lady, I have a few tricks in the bag,” The lady smiles.

They decide to play Monopoly and clear the table off before setting the game board up. Kiel grabs a random piece which ends up being the dog, while Archer chooses the race car, and the lady picks the old boot (partially because of age). Archer starts off the game by rolling, then older lady’s turn, and Kiel’s turn in which Archer helps say the numbers rolled. They start off the game well and continue down the line with everyone getting properties and taking or owing money.

Afternoon came quicker than expected. The hours they spent together were filled with laughter, slight arguing, and throwing things. At the end of the game Archer ended up winning and in rage Kiel tipped the board off the table. Kiel sat on the floor and crossed his arms slightly pouting.

“That’s not fair. You know you should go easy on people who can’t see!”

“You’re the one who challenged me in the first place and plus we could have played something else but no you urged us to play Monopoly,” Archer snaps and snickers.

Kiel opens his mouth to say something in protest but can’t find anything partially mean to say. He closes his mouth and just sits there in silence. Archer and the cook pick up the game pieces, money, and board before putting it and the deck of cards in the cabinet again.

“Well I better start making your guys lunch before you starve from all this arguing,” She smiles warmly before leaving the room and heading to the kitchen.

Kiel looks over in Archer’s direction and finally quits pouting.

“er…could we maybe read or something,” He looks down.

“Possibly if you are done pouting,” Archer crosses his arms over his chest.

Kiel sighs and stands up before brushing his knees off . He took a step forward and placed his hand out for Archer to grab. Archer in fact grabbed his hand and they walked to the study, Kiel’s parents used for books and their office. Kiel lets go of Archer’s hand and sat down on a burgundy love seat. Archer went over to the book case and picked up a light novel with a black cover and one with a red cover.

“How about we try a new book.”

“Oh OK,” Kiel looked at him patently waiting for what book Archer grabbed.

“Kiel, black or red cover?” He asks holding up the two books even though Kiel couldn’t see either of them.

“What’s the title of the red one?”

“The Black Rose, and the black one is called A Road to the Stars.”

“Can we read the black one?” Kiel says a bit excited to see what the book was about.

“Yeah sure, scooch over.”

Archer sits down next to Kiel and opens the book.

“The stars are something not all can reach but can travel a road to see,” Archer starts the book.

He continues to read and Kiel listens quietly, paying attention to every detail and word.

Soon Archer notices Kiel slip into a light nap. He closes the book and stands up before covering Kiel in a blanket. Archer dims the light and shuts the door.

Archer walks to the kitchen and tells the cook to hold off on lunch for a bit until Kiel wakes up. He then heads over to the couch and sits down sighing. In his hand was the red book that Kiel didn’t choose, so Archer decided to read it.

Archer himself also falls asleep and the house lay quiet.